NEW DELHI – Indian PM Narendra Modi fails to defuse the tensions over thecontroversial Indian citizenship act.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi contradicted his closest lieutenantover plans for a nationwide register as he tried to defuse protests againsta citizenship law in which at least 25 people have been killed so far.
Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government says the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), which became law on Dec. 11, is needed to give persecuted non-Muslimminorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who fled to Indiabefore 2015 a pathway to citizenship.
But many Indians feel the law discriminates against Muslims and violatesIndia’s secular constitution by making religion a test for citizenship.
They say the law and a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) couldbe used to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens.
Read Top Stories
Modi also said that there had been no discussion on creating the nationwideregister of citizens – directly contradicting key ally Home (Interior)Minister Amit Shah.
But speaking in parliament last month, Shah told lawmakers unequivocallythat the government would introduce a nationwide register.
In April, he laid out the chronology for the process, telling reporters:“First, there will be a Citizenship Amendment Bill … after that, therewill an NRC.”
